The fact that it’s vertical video is bad enough on its own.
The fact that it’s short means you can’t actually do anything meaningful with it. Can’t meaningfully set up a scenario to tell a good joke. Can’t explain the context behind the educational fact you’re sharing. Can’t develop characters in a story. It can never be anything more than basic spectacle.
But the worst bit is the fact that it’s pure algorithm. YouTube at least shows you a screen of 10+ videos for you to choose from. Or you can go to your subscriptions page and see videos from people you’ve specifically said you want to watch. Or use search and find videos on a specific topic (though recently YouTube has made changes that make this significantly worse than it used to be). TikTok is “watch the video we want you to watch, or skip to the next video we want you to watch” on repeat. It’s incredibly patronising, and far less valuable as a user.
The fact that it’s vertical video is bad enough on its own.
The fact that it’s short means you can’t actually do anything meaningful with it. Can’t meaningfully set up a scenario to tell a good joke. Can’t explain the context behind the educational fact you’re sharing. Can’t develop characters in a story. It can never be anything more than basic spectacle.
But the worst bit is the fact that it’s pure algorithm. YouTube at least shows you a screen of 10+ videos for you to choose from. Or you can go to your subscriptions page and see videos from people you’ve specifically said you want to watch. Or use search and find videos on a specific topic (though recently YouTube has made changes that make this significantly worse than it used to be). TikTok is “watch the video we want you to watch, or skip to the next video we want you to watch” on repeat. It’s incredibly patronising, and far less valuable as a user.